Son of a...

[Wafflesomd]

No offense meant to you Wafflesomd, but you said your your opening post that it was a great job if you ignored the customers. What do you mean by ignoring the customers, that usually won't get you far in a workplace that requires employee/customer interaction. I used to work at Kroger for their Deli department, customer service was very important. As a plus it was very entertaining how picky certain people were about how their meat was sliced.

I meant like, just not thinking about the crap you have to put up with dealing with customers. Yes, customer service is very important there. I have no problem there.

Anyways, it turns out it had nothing to do with my drug test, thats just what they told my manager. It was due to my misdomeanor charge. My manager is currently trying her best to get me back in. I feel as though I should be ok and may talk to the union, as there are employees with DUI;s and worse who are still employed.

 

[Alex2507]

Maybe they're afraid of you falling off the wagon and eating everything.

I would really like to see this work out for you.

 

[MatthewB.]

Okay let me shed some light on this. I have worked in a hospital lab for 20 years (I currently now work as a tech in a Cath lab now) anyway during my tenure in the lab, we would also do drug screens on employees (I have seen it all - we had one guy who came up positive for 8 different narcotics and he wanted to work in a hospital) Anyhow, people can come up for false positives for a variety of different reasons. The testing gear is very sensitive and can detect the slightest trace of any drug. In which case it will just say "Positive" unless the required company or department requests that further testing be done on urine sample. In your case I can almost gaurantee they did not request further testing to see the percentage totals.

Eating a poppyseed muffin will give you a false positive for heroin, that's how sensitive the testing gear is. Now you said you havent smoked in 6 months and I believe you, but if you have been hanging around others who smoke, that will get inhaled by you (second hand smoke) the gear will pick up on that, if you attended a rock concert and some guy near you was lighting up, you will come up positive. Your best bet is to ask for a second test, accidents happen. You probably got a false positive (which happens more times than you can think of) and because of your past history, your fate was sealed.

Also what the local manager or HR department says will vastly differ from what corporate thinks. Your manager can say your hired, but a copy of that background check gets sent to corporate headquarters and they will ask if you are still hired and if you are, they will ask that you be terminated on the spot. Having never met you or care to know what type or person or worker you are.

As an employee (former or current) you have the right to ask for a retest and you also have the right to ask them to request to retest the sample for a concentrated amount to determine if you were taking bong hits the night before or as I mentioned you happened to walk into a room where somebody else was smoking.

Good luck.

 

[markw]

As for the unions.

I feel as though I should be ok and may talk to the union, as there are employees with DUI;s and worse who are still employed.

Were you actually in the union? Many places have a "probationary period" which one must survive before being allowed to become a member of the union. I know when I worked for a steel mill I had to wait 90 days before being admitted to the union.

As for the DUI, while I agree that it's worse than testing positive for MJ, consuming alcohol in itself is not illegal. Drugs are. Consuming too much alcohol and driving and/or acting stupid is.

For what it's worth, even though I sound negative, it's because in this world, many things are what they are, not what they should be.

I would like to see you called back.

 

[Wafflesomd]

I'll find out tomorrow.

 

[WmAx]

Eating a poppyseed muffin will give you a false positive for heroin, that's how sensitive the testing gear is.

A proper heroin test involves testing for the specific bi-product metabolites specific from heroin, being 6-MAM(6-monoacetylmorphine) AND morphine; heroin breaks down from it's primary state into morphine, but that's only one of the signs; morphine is not really heroin(though heroin is a diacetyl ester form of morphine; details of which are not really relevant here). Poppy plants(and the seeds coated with the latex in the pod) do not contain cause the specific metabolite (6-MAM) that would verify heroin use, and the primary relevant chemicals that would yield positive from poppy pod or poppy seeds consumption would be morphine and codeine (among other non-relevant chemicals like thebaine, etc.).

But maybe labs are getting lazy and not doing proper/thorough tests?

As for drug testing in general; it's BS. The only thing that is relevant is your performance on the job. They should make you wear a special sensor to gauge if you ever get intoxicated with alcohol as well, if they want to be thorough in invading your private off-the-clock time.

-Chris

 

[mtrycrafts]

Use the overtime money to buy a bag of weed.

Sounds good and funny but not

 

[mtrycrafts]

I'll find out tomorrow.

Wish you the best of luck. Let us know.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Well, looks like it's official. I'm right back where I started

It took me six months to get a job...

I'm really nearing the end of my rope here, one more thing like this and I'm done.

 

[markw]

Sorry about that.

Did they give a reason? If it was just the drug test, stay off the stuff! Some tests go back farther than others and the only way to assure passing is to not play with that stuff. Right or wrong, they make the rules.

If it was something on your records that can't be expunged, well, I don't know what to tell you.

But, be aware, they may not tell you the real reason. Maybe they picked up on your ambivalence towards the customers and took the easy way out.

Better luck next time.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Did they give a reason? If it was just the drug test, stay off the stuff! Some tests go back farther than others and the only way to assure passing is to not play with that stuff. Right or wrong, they make the rules.

If it was something on your records that can't be expunged, well, I don't know what to tell you.

But, be aware, they may not tell you the real reason. Maybe they picked up on your ambivalence towards the customers and took the easy way out.

Better luck next time.

My customer service was excellent...

Clearly you all misunderstood what I meant by 'ignoring' the customer.

 

[agarwalro]

I'm really nearing the end of my rope here, one more thing like this and I'm done.

No. giving up is not an option ever. If there is a problem, there is always a solution.

I recommend reaching out to your local alcohol/drug-rehabilitation programs. There are bound to be some sort of placement options from there. Not only that, a placement from there is bound to come with the expectation that "this person has used/abused alcohol and-or drugs". So the employers will be more careful with observing your current work ethics and not hold you past against you.

Here is the govt. site for Ohio. http://www.usdrugrehabcenters.com/drug-rehab-centers/ohio-drug-rehab-centers/

Also, I recommend getting two or more part time jobs rather than a single full time job. At this time you need to build references. The more places you do a good job at, the better it looks for you when you are ready for a good full time job.

The down side is, you may not get a job that is to your liking. But, six months of concientious work will go a long way in getting you into a position to put the possession charge behind you.

 

[B3Nut]

Further illustration of the blazing insanity that is US drug policy. Weed needs to be legalized and taxed. I've been around plenty of pot users as a musician, as well as plenty of drunks...stoned people are, as a rule, much easier to deal with. Not really my bag (my preferred vices are coffee and fine bourbon) but the "reefer madness" scaremongering is ridiculous.

TP

 

[Wafflesomd]

I'm not sure what else there is to do right now other than join the military to fund school.

 

[MatthewB.]

Waffle, the military has alot of potential and you can make a career out of it or as you mentioned fund school. Best adviceI can give you is while in the military immediatly sign up for USAA insurance. It's partly government funded and you get very inexpensive car and home insurance for the rest of your life if you sign up while in the military (if ex-military you have to jump through obstacles to get it) but literally you will be paying less than half of the cheapest plan you can find anywhere else. I pay about 55.00/month for full coverage on a BMW and a little more for full coverage on my house. Very very cheap. But it is only open to military and their dependants.

If you do decide to join, look at all options and what ecah branch of service can do for you.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Thing is, I was attending school as a music major until all this crap happened.

Would I be able to continue my degree?

 

[Wafflesomd]

Nevermind, looks like they won't take me due to these charges.

Well, that just about does it for me, I don't have any other options.

 

[WmAx]

Simply put, the government 'does not give a sh*t' about people. The laws were never put into place for any rational reason; and that includes all illegal drug laws. They are not constitutional and drug use, statistically, has increased by 400 percent since the original (Harrison Act of 1914) was initiated based on media fear mongering, just like it is today; yet one of the most dangerous and destructive drugs (alcohol) is as legal as a Snickers candy bar....

-Chris

 

[Wafflesomd]

Does anyone know what I can do?

 

[markw]

Does your school have counselors?

To offer any possibly useful advice, people would need to know a bit about you. Location, age, skills, work experience, etc...

This world ain't gettin' any easier and schooling helps. Trade schools included. No offense, going to school for music won't really assure food on the table in the future unless you shoot for teaching, and even that's not guaranteed. I haven't seen too many want ads for rock stars.